Stanford misrepresented its plan to develop an 8-acre parcel along El Camino Real, Menlo Park Council Member Rich Cline said Tuesday night before the council voted 3-0 to do an early review of the project on April 16.

"I was very surprised that the project that was originally proposed was nothing like anything that had been discussed by Stanford in the past, at all," Cline said. "And really, had very little to do with the spirit and the direction of the specific plan as we had those discussions, so I think its worthy of us to take a look."

In partnership with prominent developer and philanthropist John Arrillaga, Stanford's "500 El Camino Real" proposal calls for construction of five big structures -- two 5-story residential buildings with up to 152 units, two 4-story office buildings and one 3-story office building -- on a stretch of several blocks where mostly vacant car dealership buildings now stand.

Because the project complies with the building standards and zoning established in the El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan that the council approved in June, it only has to be approved by the planning commission, Senior Planner Thomas Rogers told The Daily News. However, the commission's decision can be appealed to the city council.

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Asked on Wednesday to elaborate about his allegation that Stanford misrepresented itself, Cline said that although the university never made any promises, its representatives participated in meetings and discussions related to the specific plan and heard residents and city leaders declare they want to see more housing, particularly senior housing, as well as retail shops and possibly a hotel along that portion of El Camino Real.

Although Stanford had signaled its intention to build some medical offices, a proposal showing that they would constitute 20 percent of the development's total square footage was unexpected, Cline said. "When I first saw the plan, it was completely out of nowhere."

Steve Elliott, Stanford's managing director of development, told council members a revised development plan would be ready for the April 16 meeting.

Unless revised, the Stanford-Arrillaga project would account for 23 percent of the maximum residential growth and 45 percent of the non-residential growth allowed within the specific plan's boundaries over the document's 20- to 30-year time frame. And that concerns him too, Cline said, as does the expected traffic impacts and the buildings' generic architecture.

Cline and Council Member Kirsten Keith jointly called for an early review of the project. Vice Mayor Ray Mueller abstained because he owns property near the development and Council Member Catherine Carlton was absent.

Mayor Peter Ohtaki said he voted to go along with the request because he has received many emails from worried residents and is himself concerned about the traffic impacts along El Camino Real and nearby neighborhoods.

Despite the controversy, Keith said she wants "to be very clear that I also think it's possible that we could still work with Stanford and get a good project out of this."

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Planning Commissioner Vince Bressler suggested that the council remove the area where Stanford plans to build from the specific plan so the project could be more thoroughly reviewed.

"I think we made a mistake, the planning commission, the public, staff, the council, everybody made a mistake on this parcel," Bressler said.

Cline said Wednesday the council could change the specific plan to get more control over the project "if we felt there were no other levers."